Re: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute against harmonizing?

From: Michael Roberts <michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk>
Date: Sat Dec 15 2007 - 15:41:12 EST

I am sorry you did not like what I said but there is a unity in the human race and all are created by God (by whatever means) and are in the Image of God, whether they are the Al Qaeda suicide bomber in Iraq, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot or the apostles Paul and Peter and the Virgin Mary. If we don't hold that every single human being is the Image of God then we will dehumanize those we dislike for good reason or ill.

However in every human the Image of God is distorted and needs straightening by the redemption we have in Christ - the perfect Image of God.

Do not forget the penitent thief on the cross

Michael
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Dick Fischer
  To: 'Michael Roberts' ; ASA
  Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 4:26 PM
  Subject: RE: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute against harmonizing?

  Dear Michael:

  Aren't you the one who called me a "heretic"? Does pot call kettle black? Or to be more scriptural: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye (Luke 6:41)?"

  Dick Fischer

  Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association

  Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History

  www.genesisproclaimed.org

  -----Original Message-----
  From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of Michael Roberts
  Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2007 2:44 AM
  To: Donald F Calbreath; asa@calvin.edu
  Subject: Re: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute against harmonizing?

  Donald

  Below is your statement when you accused the late Dr Bernard Kettlewell of

  fraud.

  I asked you to substantiate your accusation yet you have ignored my request.

  If you are unable to show that Kettlewell committed fraud then retract your

  accusation.

  If you are a Christian then I am sure you will, as no Christian would make

  such accusations without good reason, as to do so is to break several

  commandments .

  So I am waiting either for your retraction that your accusation has no

  foundation whatsoever and that you should not have made it in the first

  place, or to make a case for your accusation.

  Michael

  ----- Original Message -----

  From: "Donald F Calbreath" <dcalbreath@whitworth.edu>

  To: <asa@calvin.edu>

  Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 6:15 PM

  Subject: RE: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute

  against harmonizing?

  Interesting ... the last I heard, Jonathan Wells as a Moonie, not a

  "born-again evangelical". The peppered-moth fraud was a fraud, perpetrated

  by the person who published the research in the first place.

  Don

  ________________________________________

  From: Michael Roberts [michael.andrea.r@ukonline.co.uk]

  Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 4:13 AM

  To: Donald F Calbreath; asa@calvin.edu

  Subject: Re: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute

  against harmonizing?

  Why should one "teach the controversy" when the "controversy" was invented

  by the ID guys and based on inaccurate arguments like the peppered Moth

  fraud put forward by that born-again evangelical Wells :) :)

  Any teacher "teaching the controversy" should be sacked

  Michael

  ----- Original Message -----

  From: "Donald F Calbreath" <dcalbreath@whitworth.edu>

  To: <asa@calvin.edu>

  Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 12:19 AM

  Subject: RE: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute

  against harmonizing?

  Sounds like what the ID folks have been saying for years - "teach the

  controversy".

  Don Calbreath

  ________________________________

  From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu [asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu] On Behalf Of

  Dehler, Bernie [bernie.dehler@intel.com]

  Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 4:04 PM

  Cc: asa@calvin.edu

  Subject: RE: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute

  against harmonizing?

  The confusing thing is that for secular humanists and atheists, "no

   religion" is their religion. Therefore, when they ignore all religion and

  claim to be not promoting religion, that is just the consequence of their

  belief system. Therefore, they think as long as they make no reference to

  God at all, they are not being religious. But they make no reference to God

  because they don't believe in God, then get offended when people do want to

  talk about God. Therefore, they can be the intolerant ones at times.

  I think the perfect solution is to teach evolution in the science classroom,

  then talk specifically about popular criticisms of evolution. That can only

  result in good as it makes people on all sides think. It seems like the

  hard-core evolutionists want to shield students from any evolutionary

  criticism. I can sense their fear. They would be more noble to address

  criticism, as Darwin constantly did.

  ________________________________

  From: David Opderbeck [mailto:dopderbeck@gmail.com]

  Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 12:42 PM

  To: Dehler, Bernie

  Cc: asa@calvin.edu

  Subject: Re: [asa] (is evolution "anti-religious"?) Discovery Institute

  against harmonizing?

  I should make it clear that the legal question doesn't depend on whether the

  statement is true or not. It may be that "evolution is not inherently

  anti-religious" is a true statement. Either way, it's undoubtedly a

  statement that involves the substance of religion, and therefore it is

  Constitutionally problematic in a public school context.

  On Dec 12, 2007 2:44 PM, Dehler, Bernie

  <bernie.dehler@intel.com<mailto:bernie.dehler@intel.com>> wrote:

  "In this context, the above statement would be a religious viewpoint on

  evolution offered by the government that is contrary to the parent's

  religion. "

  I never thought of it like that before. This is weird-I can see both sides

  simultaneously. It is like looking at one of those pictures that is both an

  old and young lady, depending on how you look at it.

  Ultimately, I guess it is incorrect to say there is NO religious component

  to evolution. since some who are religious are opposed to it on religious

  grounds. However, those who teach it can also teach it without any

  reference to God or anything supernatural, which makes it appear

  "non-religious." In addition, Christians may be against evolution for

  religious reasons, why other Christians are for evolution for scientific

  reasons.

  Since there are two good ways of looking at this topic, I suppose that

  guarantees this issue isn't going away soon and will in fact get hotter.

  ________________________________

  From: asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu<mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu>

  [mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu<mailto:asa-owner@lists.calvin.edu>] On

  Behalf Of David Opderbeck

  Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 6:48 AM

  To: asa@calvin.edu<mailto:asa@calvin.edu>

  Subject: Re: [asa] Discovery Institute against harmonizing?

  Greg said: For the legal stuff, David O. and Casey have more expertise than

  any natural scientist at ASA. Let them be sovereign in their sphere (TG -->

  Abraham K., H.D.)!

  Ha! I've never been sovereign over anything! Seriously, I want to be clear

  that I don't know exactly what the DI / Lusckin have said, so I'm not

  endorsing nor rejecting it.

  However, think about the implications of the statement "The common view that

  evolution is inherently anti-religious is false " in the context of a public

  secondary school.

  Greg makes the point that even for many TE's this may depend on how you

  define "evolution." But think also about a parent, whether Christian or

  not, who in fact believes that any notion of evolution is contrary to her

  religion. You, and the local school board, might think that parent is dead

  wrong. However, neither you nor the local school board have the right to

  dictate that parent's religious beliefs. In this context, the above

  statement would be a religious viewpoint on evolution offered by the

  government that is contrary to the parent's religion. It seems this indeed

  ought to present an establishment clause problem under the current

  jurisprudence.

  - - - - -

  On Dec 12, 2007 2:09 AM, Gregory Arago

  <gregoryarago@yahoo.ca<mailto:gregoryarago@yahoo.ca>> wrote:

  The problem is, David, that you have not spoken (and from all indications

  cannot) speak 'objectively' about evolution across the board. At best you

  can speak of a stronger or weaker consensus, or 'normal science' in Kuhnian

  terms, specifically in one or two or a few or even perhaps more than a few

  scientific fields. Thus, when you speak of the 'natural sciences' ( e.g.

  biology, chemistry, geology, anatomy, physiology, etc.) of evolution, you

  may find a high level of harmony (even in America, among natural scientists,

  both theists and non-theists alike).

  Thus, A. Moorad's: "If by evolution one understands a scientific theory

  based on physics and chemistry, as James D. Watson understands it, then I

  have no qualms whatsoever."

  However, and this is a HUGE however, once you include the 'human factor,'

  which you have done by briging in 'religion' and 'classrooms,' you simply

  must give up your pretensions to objectivity and enter into a dialogue with

  those whose interpretations (cf. hermeneutic turn) differ from yours. You

  cannot dictate the discourse without smuggling in oppression and inequality

  of access, even if just in the language. This is what I have been charging

  natural scientists, particularly those at ASA, but also elsewhere, with

  doing in the 'controversy' surrounding evolution.

  Once you acknowledge the philosophical, theological and sociological

  dimensions of (claims to) evolution, the 'objectivity' of evolutionary

  universalism becomes deeply problematic. Yes, I know this is a challenge to

  the theistic evolutionary (TE) views that you and others at ASA strongly (at

  least outwardly) espouse. But in fact, it is the same thing with such a

  view: ASA apears to be against harmonizing with views that are not TE/EC.

  For the legal stuff, David O. and Casey have more expertise than any natural

  scientist at ASA. Let them be sovereign in their sphere (TG --> Abraham K.,

  H.D.)!

  G. Arago

  David Opderbeck wrote:

  I don't know the details of what the Discovery Institute did or didn't say,

  but this isn't too crazy an assertion with respect to public secondary

  schools. Establishment clause jurisprudence is a bit of a muddle right now,

  but essentially the government cannot send any message that the relevant

  public would likely perceive as an endorsement of religion. It is very

  plausible that a public school teacher who says something like "evolution is

  compatible with religion" might be sending such a message, intentionally or

  not. This is particularly true if the teacher backs up this assertion with

  a little more detail. If the teacher were to suggest, for example, that God

  can act through secondary causes and yet still remain in control of the

  outcomes, that could be perceived as an endorsement of monotheistic religion

  and of a particular understanding of God. Almost certainly, a public

  secondary school teacher who explains a Christian TE position in any detail

  violates the establishment clause, unless it is in the context of some sort

  of comparative religion course.

  David Campbell <pleuronaia@gmail.com <mailto:pleuronaia@gmail.com> > wrote:

  Anyone know more details on the situation? As reported, the Discovery

  Institute seems to be claiming that it's unconstitutional to say in a

  public classroom that evolution and religion are compatible. So far,

  no one has objected or arrested me for saying that in my classes,

  though standards for university and grade school are a bit different.

  Specifically, teaching materials designed to accompany the "Judgment

  Day: Intelligent design on trial" program includes "Q: Can you

  accept evolution and still believe in religion? A: Yes. The common

  view that evolution is inherently anti-religious is simply false.'

  "According to Casey Luskin, an attorney with the Discovery Institute,

  this answer favours one religious viewpoint, arguably violating the US

  constitution. 'We're afraid that teachers might get sued, ' he says."

  As they supported the proposed Kansas standards that claimed that

  evolution was inherently atheistic, there's some inconsistency here.

  As the Judgement Day program does not reflect favorably on ID, the DI

  may be trying too hard to cast aspersions on it.

  No doubt the Discovery Institute has their own take on the story which

  should be consulted for a more balanced picture than what I have at

  hand.

  Objectively it is perfectly possible to have a religious view in

  harmony with evolution, so both Dawkins and Johnson are wrong. One

  can legitimately debate how well evolution meshes with a particular

  religious tradition, but that's not the same question.

  --

  Dr. David Campbell

  425 Scientific Collections

  University of Alabama

  "I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

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Received on Sat Dec 15 15:43:29 2007

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